FREEDOM?! [Kureha/Open]

[Mekiel Echigo]

For the first time in months, Ian was able to sleep in at a place comfortably, and boy, could he sleep. And, as bad as this sounds, this meant it was the first time in months that I didn't need to babysit. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the kid, but my sanity was degrading without having any bit of me-time. So, seeing as it probably wasn't going to be a recurring thing, I took advantage of it. I'd need to remember to thank Orion for this moment of freedom.

It was early (not too early, mind you. I couldn't get up at like, six, or something.) and the weather was still kind of crazy from the storm that passed through yesterday. Hardly any sunlight broke through the clouds, so a cold chill was a constant factor in today's variables. It was a lot easier to manage without having a kid around, though. It made my strolls much simpler.

During my time alone, I came across a sight I was overly familiar with: a bunch of thugs were harassing someone for reasons unknown to me. Part of me wanted to be a jerk and let the situation sort itself out, but that just wasn't something I could legitimately see myself doing. So, here I was, right back into the swing of things, walking up to the thugs and pushing them away from their poor victim.

"Hey, guys, c'mon, now. This is a little unnecessary."

I won't bore you with the details, so let's just say that after about three minutes, there were three dudes on the ground, unconscious, and one smaller guy was now no longer being heckled by jerks. Oh, and we made a bunch of noise... y'know, it was a rumble. A small rumble. That's it.

[Syn]

'What is freedom of expression?
Without the freedom to offend, it ceases to exist.'
---Salman Rushdie

A chilly morning was a bit of a rarity but the cold never bothered her anyways. Actually that would be a bit incorrect she did mind the chill more than most. Kureha preferred the warmth of the sun against her skin and a cool breeze through her long locs. But alas the current chill gave her an excuse to wear a particular outfit that a hot or warm summer day would prove unbearable to dawn. The raven haired beauty as usual was always on the look out for some form of entertainment and she always found it even at the expense of others. She found her mark by 'accident' as the poor soul approached her. The typical 'hey girl' nonsense that made her smirk on the outside and roll her eyes inwardly. He was a small guy but apparently had some balls on him to try and carry on for a bit. Her head would shake in dismay as he just tried despite her ignoring me and that's when she saw them, a group of petty thugs. A deviously little smile tugged at her full lips briefly as she acted strongly with annoyance those the man.

The others, like moth to the fire looked over and soon approached. The usual 'is this guy bothering you?' bit and with a nod he would become their target. She'd find herself stepping back from the show placing her back against a telephone pole with her hands resting snugly inside the confines of her brown bombers jacket. Her left foot was raised with the heel of the brown knee high boots resting against the wood of the pole. Her enchanting yet haunting greens watched intentively as a blonde individual approached. A rather tall individual at that.

< Well now. Hello. Even with these heels I still feel a little short. Poor boys they'll be out for awhile. >

Her right brow perked up as she watched the men get laid out with some ease not surprising. Tilting her head like a curious kitty she finally pushed off the pole taking a hand out of her pocket and shifting the necklace around her neck. Maybe her attire would seem a bit familiar if he was cool enough. Fingerless gloved hands would clap before she placed back in the pockets of her half zipped jacket. A smile present on her face after a low whistle.

"My hero."

Pausing about arms length away from him she looked him over once more unable to prevent the next words from leaving her lips. Not as if she cared about her blunt behavior. Even if the question seemed odd and a bit out of place that's how she operated. Outside the confines of the norm.

"I'm kind of curious does it match? I mean that's a lot of proportioning."

There was no change in her facial expression. Question was did he understand what she was referring to.

[Mekiel Echigo]

Right after the small scuffle, I sat down on a nearby box thing, and just stretched, letting the rest of the situation dissolve on its own - not that there was much of a situation left, anyway. Not even a few seconds later, my ears were greeted with the pleasant sound of a female voice! That ALWAYS sounded better than the typical brutes that roamed these streets! So, interested, my eyes darted over to her, and -

Wat

No way

What is she wearing

My jaw dropped a little and I had kind of a blank look on my face. This chick LEGITIMATELY resembled my look pre-Barker. Clothes scheme, color scheme... what were the chances?! Needless to say I spent a certain deal of time processing that before I'd respond to anything. And just as I was about to acknowledge her, she just

This chick

Wow

I could have been REALLY awkward about it, but I'm sure that's what she was trying to get me to do. That or she was just insanely forward for no reason. So, I decided I'd make this funny for myself. I just grinned, placing my elbows on my knees and holding my hands about a foot apart from each other. If that was what she was referring too, well... not far from the truth, there.

[Syn]

His jaw dropping reaction forced her smirk to widened into a full smile. Being the vain person that she was she was used to it from most men but it never got tiring. She loved the attention. Loved the spotlight. But one thing to note was that it didn't just seem like he was merely taken by her appearance but that he possibly saw a ghost. A friendly one though cause there wasn't fear in his eyes. There was a silence between the two individuals for a little well as it seemed as he was processing something in his mind.

"Cat got your tongue?"

As soon as those words left her lips she watched as he made a particular motion with his hands. The grin on his face made her made her chuckle in kind.

"Is that so? Good to know. I'll keep that in mind for later."

No shame.

She'd wink at him first before she looked around her seeing the bodies on the ground. The scene didn't bother her one bit. She didn't flinch or grimace even though it wasn't that bad to but still. The raven haired beauties following actions had her moving to interact with one of the downed individuals. Interacting in the sense that she crouched near his body and picked through his pockets. No shame at all. As she did so she would glance over her shoulder at tall blonde male.

"Thanks for saving me the trouble hun."

She spoke with a smile and a hint of amusement in her tone. The first man only had a switchblade which she'd gladly pocket and nothing really more. He'd find her merely moving onto the next like it was all nothing.

[Mekiel Echigo]

I cocked a brow, slightly surprised. Though, instead of showing that, I kept the grin on my face and shrugged. Got it play it cool in front of the ladies; that's what Zero always said. Situations like these (serious or not) always reminded me of him, so I couldn't help but try to be him for a little while. That may be a little childish of me, but, eh. YOLO, right?

"Shouldn't be easy to forget."

Still joking (or was I?!), I couldn't help but laugh a little. I had to admit, the girl was rather attractive. There was no denying it! But openly stating it was probably something I was never going to do, just because I couldn't get the nerve up for it. Well, unless we were an item, but that's looking too much into a situation that barely started and implying a whole lotta what-ifs, isn't it?

What-ifs aside, it was a bit of a boner-killer to see she started looking the guys. Sure, they were a bunch of scumbags, and we weren't exactly in a place of law and order, but, I dunno... I like a little bit of class here and there, I guess.

"You always this charming and hard-working?"

[Syn]

"Don't forget to wipe the drool off first though."

She laughed a little as she pretty much finished scavenging. Unfortunately the men really had nothing worth taking after what she discovered on the first. He must've been more of the ring leader and with that being said he wasn't much of one to just go down so easily. It caused her head to shake as she stood up, nudging the last with her boot lightly. Kureha could be such a guy sometimes in her mannerisms. But she did have a class to her that she showed when she felt like it. She knew when to have a little more tact. She could be a rather upstanding lady, prim and proper but it would most certainly be more of an act than truth. And she'd hate every minute it of it. Too much reminder of what her parents wanted. She would merely shrug but not at his words and turned back to him. A devilish smile crawled on her face whilst she approached his sitting position.

"Oh I'm very hardworking. You'd appreciate it I'm sure."

Wolf like eyes gazed at him as she gracefully sat upon his left lap, though more on his knee.

"And I'm even more charming once you get to know me...So what shall I call you? Heh ya know sitting here I kinda feel like a little kid sitting on Santa's lap, but I digress so who is the big bad wolf that blew the little piggies away?"

Instead of wrapping her arms around his neck which would be her norm, she crossed her arms over her chest instead.

[Mekiel Echigo]

It was hard not to drool when she was facing away from me and I had a pretty decent view of her assets. Don't get me wrong, that's not all I appreciate in a women, but you give credit where credit is DUE if you know what I'm sayin'! ... Actually I don't entirely know what that meant. The point is, ass.

"Well, you can say that all you'd like, but I can't exactly be sure unless I see it for myself. I'm sure you understand."

I had no idea where this more suave side of me was coming from. Sure, this probably wasn't going to be ANYTHING serious, but usually I'd get all choked up and awkward. Especially with the whole sitting-on-me thing. Like, c'mon, now.

"Well, I'd hope so, otherwise you'd be a little boring. We don't want that, do we?" I looked her right in the eyes, which were actually really... wow. They were beautiful, and for a moment, my expression would show what I thought. But I didn't want that to linger. Cool guy jokes aside, I don't know this girl, or what she wants, or anything. Vulnerability could be a bad thing. "I've been known by a lot of names, Miss. But, you can call me Mekiel Echigo." For once, I'd decided to leave the whole title out of it.

"What can I call you?"

[Syn]

Kureha enjoyed the confident ones to a point but the ones that seemed a bit more on the nervous side brought a bigger smile on her face. It was rather cute how they carried themselves before her. Fumbling with words. Trying to lock onto something to keep themselves from faulting. He seemed to be playing along quite well. She loved the seesaw dynamic and oh did he just indirectly challenge her? Kureha wasn't a woman one wanted to challenge because she met it head on. Took no prisoners in the process. Her eyes glistened with a hint of fire for a moment at the mere thought of a challenge. Her greens were still locked on his orbs catching his gaze. She heard a great many times how one could get lost in her eyes. Told how alluring they could be or even haunting. She laughed at the mere thought of her ever being boring. She hated being bored as it was so she would never turn around and be so dull. It wasn't in her nature to be.

"Well aren't you polite."

Something Kureha never understood was why did individuals always give out their full names from the beginning? It was something she never understood about society. Now if she wanted to find him again it wouldn't be so difficult. Question is after today would she want to? That remained to be seen. Right now she wasn't denying his attractiveness, but how much fun was he really?

"Mekiel, rolls off the tongue nicely.. Kureha... And-"

She'd uncross her arms placing them on either side of her of legs which meant on his leg in which she was sitting on. She leaned her face in a little closer to his and finished her statement with lips mere inches from his.

"I'm anything but boring. Trust me on that. How much fun you are is the question."

With a smirk she wouldn't pull away yet. Just stare into his eyes wolf like.

"I'm not making you nervous am I?"

[Mekiel Echigo]

One thing I never needed to worry about was being found. For being such a giant, I was really good at covering my tracks. I never worried about names because of how many I was known by. And, besides, know my name all you like, that won't give you any real dirt on me that you wouldn't know otherwise.

The way she held herself was extremely confident, despite being in a state where she could be easily crushed by a man twice her size. Not that I would crush her, mind you - not unless it was just her pelvis IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT (not really... maybe). It was kind of attractive, though I've seen my fair share of it from other women in the past. Jayr did it in a different manner, but it was still similar.

"Nervous? Well, Miss Kureha," the lack of a last name was noted. In response to her own movements, my left hand would glide along her right shoulder before I, myself, leaned just a little closer than she did - but still with no face-to-face action - a smirk plastered upon my face, however subtle. "I'm afraid it'll take a little more than this to warrant that much of a rise out of me."

I, myself, would wink playfully.

I have no idea what I'm doing.

[Syn]

He was lucky enough that she graced him with her real name. She had a tendency from time to time of giving out her middle name or even a nickname as oppose to her actual. Besides how many people are named Kureha? She too wouldn't be so hard to find given that principle. But then again she also wasn't so widely known there yet either. It was duly noted that he could potentially crush her so easily. Kureha wasn't a small girl by any means but given his size he dwarfed her beyond comparison. Now given that it also made her all the more curious about other things, hence her original inquisition to him earlier. She also was no weakling especially in a certain exercise. The girl had a lot of practice though if going into her background it wasn't necessarily such a nice picture. But she could've gone either way after leaving. Another time for that.

Feeling his hand on her shoulder; clearly engulfing it; she watched as he leaned in truth the rest of the way closing the small gap she left between their face. She'd grin as her eyes glistened again at another challenge. Purposely she swiftly gave his lips a quick flick with her tongue and a peck, while at the same time giving a decently hard slap to the inside of his thigh, before swiftly getting off him with a spin. Fixing her jacket and tucking some strains behind her left ear. She glanced back at him with the wolf like grin present on her lightly glossed lips.

"Good! I hate it when it's so easy. So how much fun are you big guy? Besides you're not the only one."

Now thing is she meant anything. The day was still fairly early, actually it was really early. Too early to end it with dessert.

[Mekiel Echigo]

I am going to go ahead and admit - to myself - it was nice to experience, if only for a moment, a woman's touch instead of that of a burly, sweaty man. And, no, I don't mean gay porn. So, again, I was a little surprised at how forward this girl was being, but it was much preferred to the hectic realities I'd seen elsewhere.

"That's all about perspective," I sighed, standing upright once again. My hands fell to my pockets and I strolled barely past the girl, taking in a deep breath and relaxing myself. Playing it cool like this took it's toll, you know. Well, when you weren't used to it, I mean. "We've got options, I just need to know what you're into."

That sounded EXTREMELY sexual, and honestly, I wouldn't have noticed it for a while. I just sort of said it to see what her idea of fun was. BUT I COULDN'T FIX A PROBLEM I DIDN'T NOTICE.

[Syn]

Perspective indeed. From her perspective she felt like there was a nervousness about him that he was desperately trying not to show. She was no psychic but she noticed the little subtleties in his body language. Huge example the being the deep breath he had taken as he stepped passed. It seemed as though the smirk was never going to leave her face. At least Mekiel had achieved something so far: he held her attention. Good start. Moving behind him just a little bit to take a better view and had to admire his assets too. At least the one that wasn't hidden. Not many guys actually had an ass, if you understand.

His question did come off sexual and it wasn't hard for a woman like Kureha to think of it in those terms. He'd suddenly feel a pinch on his butt as she came around from behind him and stood in front. No doubt staring up at him would kill a person's neck in no time.

"Nice ass. Strenuous activities from time to time."

There she continued to smile for a moment until she gave a small tap on his torso as she turned and started down the chilly street aimlessly

"Come on mon cher. Surprise me."

[Mekiel Echigo]

My eyes widened a little at the feel of fingers on my ASS. I didn't know that was a thing. I was used to doing the grabbing of asses myself (not calling myself a whore, JUST SAIYAN), so THAT was new. My hands stiffened up a little, but BREATHE, MAN. YOU SHOULD BE USED TO THESE SCENARIOS.

Surprise her, surprise her... Hmm...

"How fast are you, little lady?" I asked, turning to her but looking toward the rooftops. "We could, uh... make a game out of it." Now "how fast are you" and "games" coming after "what are you into" might STILL have sounded a little dirty, but it still wasn't intentional. If she would have turned to look at me, she would see me looking at the rooftops, which would maybe give it away!

[Syn]

And what a nice firm ass he had. Couldn't be surprised as he looked like a man that worked out all his assets. A guy who took well care of himself was a plus. There was a slight air of familiarity that surrounded him but something she completely was either oblivious to or plainly ignored it. They've never met before but deja vu was unknowingly occurring. Kureha only managed a few steps before his questioning caused her to pause in her steps. A low snicker filled the air momentarily till she spoke with playfully.

"Hey now you gotta take me to dinner first or at least a drink first. Dessert needs time to prepare first. And I've been playing from the beginning you just now starting up?"

Musing a bit she turned around to find him staring up towards the rooftops. Kureha tilted her head to the right a bit and stepped closer next to him, then stared up towards the rooftops as well. She began to catch on immediately at what he was implying, not as though she didn't before. Knowing he wasn't trying to be sexual but now she knew exactly what he was asking.

"Ah so you want me to race you across possibly unsteady, unstable rooftops? In the cold while I'm wearing heels?"

She let a hush fall over them for a bit giving the impression that she disapproved. But if he looked at her at some point he'd find her moving forward while wrapping her ridiculously long raven locs in a bun. She was eyeing for a fire escape on the side of the building which indeed she'd find. Green orbs would be looking in his direction from her new positioning by the ladder that was still up. A smile plastered on her face. She actually enjoyed the danger behind it. She could already feel the adrenaline pumping.

"What are you waiting for?"

[Mekiel Echigo]

I really didn't process the jokes until she'd asked me about the rooftops. Yeah, chances were they were gonna be shoddy pieces of shit, but hey, you gotta live a little, right? I mean, you can do that without crappy roofs, but still. I'd shrug, letting out a simple "Yeah," in response. Pretty sure most of the people in this place could handle some of that. As soon as she started moving, I figured she was up for it. So, almost immediately, I started making my way to the nearest building, picking up speed quickly, but not too quickly. As I'd pass by her, I'd pat her lower back - and I do mean LOWER BACK, not her ass - and offer a friendly wink.

Running into a nearby alley, I'd hop off a dumpster and up to a fire escape, kicking the fire escape down juuuust so Kureha would have a bit of an easier time getting up. At the top of the fire escape, assuming she wasn't caught up with me, I'd lean against the rail and just smile, waiting for her.